November 2, 2018
Published by 
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018Consumers are shifting away from burial toward cremation, so what does that mean for the future of caskets? The answer depends on the lens from which you are viewing the funeral world. As a funeral home owner, the future looks dim for your casket merchandising. The same number of caskets are sold in the U.S. today as compared to 20 years ago, even though we have almost 700,000 more deaths. Today, the mix of caskets is weighted on the 20- and 18-gauge caskets and less expensive woods. Years ago, more expensive metals (bronze, copper and stainless steel) were being sold. If your casket selection for consumers is priced appropriately and your service fees are the emphasis of your pricing, you will have families choose caskets for burial and cremation services. The key is to train your funeral directors to present […]
November 2, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018A funeral home must evolve and serve consumers where they are or risk losing calls to the competition and perhaps even a slow demise. Note to Readers: This particular letter was delivered to my office rather than coming via email. Upon examination and based on the imprint on the back of the paper, the letter was typed. And based on the different levels of imprinting, I surmise it was typed using a manual typewriter. I am not conveying this to embarrass the writer, but I do think it tells you something about the answer seeker. Dear Dan, I have read your articles for almost 40 years and have a question that you may or may not be able to answer. My business was a 300-call traditional business when I took it over. Today, we only do about 150 total calls, and […]
November 2, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018Financial and operational plans aren’t the only aspects of strategic business planning. Astute owners will also consider marketing. My fear in composing an article on strategic planning is repeating myself. Funny that I don’t have that same fear when telling jokes to an audience, but to an audience of readers, I am concerned about this. Strategic planning brings out this fear because every year for the 44 years I have been doing management and financial consulting, I write on this topic. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, I return to this subject. I’ll take a different approach this year. I won’t talk about financial or operational aspects of advanced planning, but marketing. Funeral home owners/managers are terrible marketers, and the reason is simple: To market, you must first understand why families come to you. But the fact is, most firms […]
October 9, 2018
Published by 
Kevin Kruger on October 9, 2018
Kevin Kruger on October 9, 2018The numbers tell the story of how cremation is affecting cemeteries. They also show how learning to appeal to cremation families can help cemeteries extend their active lives, selling post-need as well as at-need and pre-need. The steadily increasing cremation rate has caused a profound shift in the funeral service industry. Much analysis has focused on the funeral home side of the industry as funeral home operators have been struggling with decreasing merchandise sales and reduced usage of their funeral home real estate (and associated revenue) for visitations and funeral services. The other primary component of the funeral service industry is cemeteries. Historically, their business model has been the sale of in-ground burial interment rights or above-ground entombment rights for casketed remains, along with related services and merchandise. If funeral homes have been struggling with rising cremation rates, one would […]
October 9, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on October 9, 2018
Dan Isard on October 9, 2018Cemeterians who don’t face up early to rising cremation rates sooner or later will be facing difficult financial choices. Dear Dan, My cemetery is in the heart of an 80 percent cremation area. Over the past decade, my sales have gone from 800 graves a year to about 100 graves a year (at-need and advance sale). My fixed costs of operation have continued to rise, due to increased water and labor costs. My sales team is down to one person from three a decade ago. My cash position is half of what it was a decade ago. I have run negative cash flow for each of the past four years. What options do I have for the near and long term? Along the I-5 to Bankruptcy Dear I-5, Your situation is not a desperate one now. It was desperate […]